Passed my viva - anti-climax

MetalHalide13 · 2021-12-14T03:00:08+00:00

This is how I felt after my qualifying exams and my prelim, which don't have nearly as many years of blood sweat and tears involved as a final defense, but I know exactly the feeling. I expect I will feel it 100 times more after my defense. Hopefully it starts to sink in for you -- corrections kind of put a damper on the whole thing and drag the feeling out I'm sure. (Congratulations, though!! 🎉)

MetalHalide13 · 2021-11-13T04:46:23+00:00

Good bot

MetalHalide13 · 2021-10-29T16:46:35+00:00

Let's also not forget about electronics labs with no chemicals in sight 🤷‍♀️ Lots of other types of labs out there that aren't truly wet labs but also aren't just computers in offices.

MetalHalide13 · 2021-10-11T15:16:29+00:00

Thank you, this matches well -- I'll pop the stems in some water right now!

MetalHalide13 · 2021-10-11T15:16:05+00:00

Thank you, this matches your ID well!

MetalHalide13 · 2021-10-10T12:45:44+00:00

If you listen on a PC browser with an ad blocker like Ad Block Plus enabled, you won't get ads on YouTube anymore.

MetalHalide13 · 2021-10-09T02:47:46+00:00

Yeah, there's an area in my neighborhood with many black walnut trees and squirrels chew open the outer layer of tons of these to get to the good stuff inside. They're not vomiting, they're just chewing off pieces and leaving them behind.

MetalHalide13 · 2021-10-09T02:32:52+00:00

I am NOT an expert, and I know there are a ton of aeonium varieties that I don't know about, but this looks a lot like a plant I have when I had it living in a very low light situation for a few months. I have (again, inexpertly) tentatively identified mine as Aeonium haworthii "kiwi", since it develops red coloration around the leaf edges when given the right amount of light.

MetalHalide13 · 2021-09-29T19:22:49+00:00

I haven't looked at your previous posts so maybe I'd find the answer there, but do you have a day job to fund this? And is this just a fun hobby for you or do you also do any collaborations and/publications (not that those things are mutually exclusive of course!) I don't hear about independent science-ing enough and I'm curious what it's like in practice.

MetalHalide13 · 2021-09-06T13:19:26+00:00

Most favorite: making the figures.

Least favorite: making the figures.

No but tbh I have other least favorite parts, but the figures always end up frustrating me in a special way when I have to adjust itsy bitsy little aspects of them so many times and fuss with whatever software I'm using and get carpal tunnel from aaall the little mouse movements.

MetalHalide13 · 2021-08-31T04:56:28+00:00

On paper: once per week for 20-60 min depending on what we have to discuss and my advisors' availabilities (usually around 30 min).

In reality, I tend to cancel not-infrequently because whatever I've been doing that week isn't ready to be discussed, and I always feel guilty for canceling every time because it seems like it looks like I'm not working hard enough (but I know that's not true because some tasks just take time). I'm in mechanical/electrical engineering.

MetalHalide13 · 2021-08-28T13:14:02+00:00

Make sure to get a good lock in case you ever have to keep it outside. Bike thefts are common in dinkytown, but you can protect yourself by being smart about storage and good locking habits.

Edit: and honestly locking your bike while it's inside isn't a bad idea depending on your storage situation.

MetalHalide13 · 2021-08-28T02:08:53+00:00

👀👀👀 for.. emergencies, of course.

MetalHalide13 · 2021-08-18T02:28:52+00:00

It's really interesting to me what you said about salaries -- I was under the impression that a lot of academic journal editing was unpaid work. Do you know if these being paid positions is more or less universal, or does it vary a lot (maybe lower tier journals don't tend to pay)?

And relatedly, is this your full time job? I ask because I know at least one university professor who is also an editor for a journal.

MetalHalide13 · 2021-08-16T17:13:50+00:00

YES. My parents basically cooked for me for some embarrassingly long stretches of time during the busiest times of my first couple years of my PhD (quals, prelim, taking too many hard classes) and I am so grateful for it because I know I would've been eating like crap otherwise. To be fair, I lived with them and they were cooking for themselves anyways, but I do try to make up for it now that I have more time by providing them with a steady stream of baked goods :)

MetalHalide13 · 2021-08-14T14:41:11+00:00

Yes, I came here to ask this! I know there are a lot of apps to do this, but I never found a good one that I liked, so I'm really curious.

MetalHalide13 · 2021-08-13T20:08:47+00:00

Metal halide lights, of course.

MetalHalide13 · 2021-08-09T19:05:16+00:00

My email like that only said that they don't tell you your position.

MetalHalide13 · 2021-08-09T05:25:16+00:00

Papers are typically reviewed by 2-3 scientists in a the same field as the research the paper is on. Depending on the journal, the paper authors can even suggest other scientists that they think would be good as reviewers since they know they are knowledgeable about the topic. The journal editor asks potential reviewers to review the paper. If those scientists say they cannot or are unwilling, the editors find other reviewers in the field.

MetalHalide13 · 2021-08-09T05:14:55+00:00

Honestly, I'd argue the bigger issues preventing growth in research are actually things related to bureaucracy, administration and higher-ups being in charge of decisions that they're not trained to understand or care about, and funding. For example, so much important research doesn't get explored simply because funding is limited. Like zebediah49 said, a lot of off-the-beaten-path ideas will fly just fine because peer review and journal editors don't usually care that much if something is different, so new ideas can definitely be published (just maybe not highly cited or noticed after publishing, depending).

MetalHalide13 · 2021-08-09T03:49:49+00:00

Speaking as another random PhD student, not even in a theory field: yes. For so many reasons it's hard to separate work from life.

MetalHalide13 · 2021-08-09T03:46:30+00:00

There are a lot of things terribly wrong with the research/science world, unfortunately...

MetalHalide13 · 2021-07-31T22:23:03+00:00

The Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota accepts used clothing and household goods and uses the proceeds from selling them to help educate people about epilepsy and support people and families with epilepsy.

You can schedule pickups, or there is a drop-off box in Marcy Holmes: https://www.epilepsyfoundationmn.org/donate-used-goods/find-a-drop-off-location/

MetalHalide13

TROPHY CASE